U.S. patent number 5,392,020 [Application Number 07/990,132] was granted by the patent office on 1995-02-21 for flexible transformer apparatus particularly adapted for high voltage operation.
Invention is credited to Kern K. N. Chang.
United States Patent |
5,392,020 |
Chang |
February 21, 1995 |
Flexible transformer apparatus particularly adapted for high
voltage operation
Abstract
A transformer secondary winding comprises a laminated structure
which includes first and second outer sheets fabricated from an
insulator material, sandwiched between the outer sheets is a thin
flexible sheet of a magnetizable material. The first and second
outer sheets each have a parallel conductive line pattern on a
surface thereof. Selected ends of the lines on the first sheet are
connected to the selected ends of the lines on the second sheet in
such a manner as to provide a coiled pattern between the sheets,
which coiled pattern encircles the central magnetizable sheet. The
above laminated configuration can be flexed or rolled into a
circular configuration to form a transformer secondary winding. The
circular secondary windings are concentrically positioned about a
first primary cylinder fabricated from an insulator sheet having
parallel conductor elements or lines arranged on a surface thereof.
A second outer primary cylinder surrounds the secondary windings at
the outer periphery and is fabricated from an insulator sheet
having a conductive line pattern on a surface. The conductive lines
of the first and second cylinders are connected to form a primary
winding about the secondary windings to provide many different
transformer configurations.
Inventors: |
Chang; Kern K. N. (Princeton,
NJ) |
Family
ID: |
25535801 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/990,132 |
Filed: |
December 14, 1992 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
336/200; 336/182;
336/223; 336/225; 336/229 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01F
17/0033 (20130101); H01F 27/306 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01F
17/00 (20060101); H01F 27/30 (20060101); H01F
027/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;336/82,200,222,223,225,229,182 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kozma; Thomas J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Plevy; Arthur L.
Claims
I claim:
1. A transformer secondary winding comprising:
a flexible laminated member, comprising a first planar sheet member
having a first plurality of parallel conductive lines on a surface
thereof, a second planar sheet member having a second plurality of
parallel conductive lines of a surface thereof, a central planar
sheet member fabricated from a magnetizable material interposed
between said first and second planar members; and
connecting means for connecting ends of said first and second
parallel lines to one another to form a coiled pattern directed
about said central member to enable any current flowing in said
coiled pattern to magnetize said central planar sheet according to
said current flow, said connecting means comprise cap structures
adapted to couple to respective sides of said flexible laminated
member, whereby said ends of said first and second parallel lines
are connected to one another, said first, second and central planar
sheet and said connecting means forming a composite flexible
member, said composite flexible member being manipulable into
various transformer configurations.
2. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said first sheet is fabricated from a flexible insulative material
having said first plurality of conductive lines on a surface
thereof.
3. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said second sheet is fabricated from a flexible insulative material
having said second plurality of conductive lines on a surface
thereof.
4. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said first and second sheets are fabricated from paper.
5. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said central planar sheet is fabricated from a soft iron.
6. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said first plurality of parallel lines are each at an angle with
respect to the vertical and with said second plurality of lines at
a different angle to form a zig-zag coiled pattern.
7. The transformer secondary winding according to claim 1 wherein
said laminated member is arranged in a circle to form a cylindrical
transformer secondary winding.
8. A transformer apparatus, comprising:
an inner primary structure of a first flexible sheet having a
plurality of parallel primary conductive lines disposed on a
surface, said sheet flexed to form a first primary cylinder,
at least one secondary winding of a flexible laminated member
comprising first and second insulator sheets separated by a third
magnetizable sheet, with said first sheet having a first plurality
of conductive lines on a surface thereof and with said second sheet
having a second plurality of conductive lines on a surface thereof,
with the ends of said first lines connected to ends of said second
lines to form an alternating line pattern between said first and
second sheets to surround said magnetizable sheet with a coiled
conductive pattern, said flexible laminated member arranged in a
circular configuration concentrically about said first primary
cylinder;
an outer primary structure of a second flexible sheet having a
second plurality of parallel primary conductive lines disposed on a
surface, said second flexible sheet concentrically surrounding said
secondary winding; and
means for connecting selected ends of said first primary conductive
lines to selected ends of said second primary conductive lines to
form a primary winding disposed about said secondary winding to
enable current flowing in said primary winding to induce current
flow in said secondary winding.
9. The apparatus according to claim 8 further including another
secondary winding of flexible laminated member arranged as said
least one laminated member and concentrically surrounding said at
least one secondary winding to form another secondary winding with
said another winding positioned between said at least one secondary
winding and said outer primary winding.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9 including rectifier means
coupling said one secondary winding to said another secondary
winding.
11. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said flexible
insulator sheets are fabricated from paper.
12. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said magnetizable
sheets are fabricated from a soft iron.
13. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said lines
on said first sheet are at a given angle with respect to the
vertical, with each of said lines on said second sheet at another
angle with respect to the vertical to enable said lines to form a
zig-zag coiled pattern when the ends are connected.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said sheets are
each about 1 mil thick.
15. The apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said means for
connecting selected ends of said first primary conductive lines to
selective ends of said second primary conductive lines comprises
first and second cap member ends having a radial line pattern
disposed on a surface and with said top member operative to connect
the top terminal of a conductive line on said inner primary winding
to the top terminal of a conductive line on said outer primary
structure, and with said bottom member operative to connect
selected bottom terminals of conductive lines on said inner and
outer primary structures to provide said primary coil winding due
to said connections.
16. The transformer according to claim 8 wherein said at least one
secondary winding is coiled to assume a spiral configuration.
17. A transformer apparatus comprising:
first and second flexible primary sheets, each having a plurality
of parallel conductive lines disposed on a surface, and each flexed
to form a cylinder, with a first cylinder spaced apart from a
second cylinder, each of said lines having a top terminal and a
bottom terminal;
means for interconnecting top and bottom terminals of said
conductive lines of said first cylinder with top terminals of
conductive lines of said second cylinder to form a coiled primary
winding between said first and second cylinders;
at least one first secondary winding of a flexible laminated member
comprising first and second insulator sheets separated by a
magnetizable sheet, with said first sheet having a first plurality
of conductive lines on a surface thereof and with said second sheet
having a second plurality of conductive lines on a surface thereof,
with the ends of said first lines connected to ends of said second
lines to form an alternating line pattern between said first and
second sheets to surround said another magnetizable sheet with a
coiled conductive pattern, with said flexible laminate member
arranged in a circular configuration which concentrically surrounds
said first primary cylinder;
at least one second secondary winding of a flexible laminated
member comprising third and fourth insulator sheets separated by
another magnetizable sheet, with said third sheet having a third
plurality of conductive lines on a surface thereof and with said
fourth sheet having a fourth plurality of conductive lines on a
surface thereof, with the ends of said third lines connected to
ends of said fourth lines to form an alternating line pattern
between said third and fourth sheets to surround said another
magnetizable sheet with a coiled conductive pattern, with said
flexible laminate member arranged in a circular configuration which
concentrically surrounds said second primary cylinder whereby
current flowing in said primary winding induces current flow in
said first and second secondary windings.
18. The transformer apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said
flexible primary sheets are insulative sheets.
19. The transformer apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said
magnetizable sheets are soft iron sheets.
20. The transformer according to claim 18 wherein said flexible
primary sheets are fabricated from paper.
21. The transformer apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first and
second plurality of conductive lines terminate in land areas
disposed on top and bottom surfaces of said first and second planar
sheets, said cap structure including contact regions adapted to
coact with said land areas.
Description
The subject matter of this invention is in part contained in a
Disclosure Document No. 317330 filed with the United States Patent
Office on Sep. 21, 1992.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a transformer apparatus in general and
more particularly to a flexible transformer apparatus which is
particularly adapted for use as a flyback transformer as those
employed in television sets.
2. Background of the Invention
Transformers are utilized in a wide variety of applications. A
flyback transformer is a device which is used to generate a high
voltage as is employed in TV receivers and oscilloscopes for
biasing the cathode ray tube or CRT. These transformers produce
relatively large voltages at relatively small currents. The ability
to produce a large voltage resides in the number of turns that are
associated with the secondary winding, as compared to the number of
turns associated with the primary winding. As is well known, the
turns of the secondary, as compared to the turns of the primary,
determine the voltage step up of the transformer. Such flyback
transformers can operate as tuned transformers which consist of a
primary winding and a number of secondary windings which are tuned
or resonated. These secondary windings are wound on the same bobbin
and each adjacent secondary windings are connected in series
through a diode. This type of flyback transformer is referred to as
a tuning flyback transformer where a horizontal output pulse or
flyback pulse is applied as an input pulse to the tuned primary
winding.
An odd order higher harmonic wave of a fundamental frequency
applied to the primary winding, such as for example, the third
harmonic is tuned and provided at the secondary winding, based on
the distributed capacity of the secondary winding which is small.
In this manner the transformer provides a high voltage at the
output of the secondary winding. As indicated, such transformers
are well known. Many such transformers utilize a toroid or core of
a donut shape fabricated from a magnetic material of a given
permeability, which core can be wound with wire. In the ideal core,
the winding represents a uniform current sheath circulating about
the core in appropriate planes. In this ideal case, the magnetic
field is entirely confined within the core, the magnetic field
lines are concentric circles and each links with the entire current
volume. Such a uniform distributed current flow around the core
results in a leakage free configuration. However, this is not the
case in practical applications.
Other transformers utilize cores which are square shaped having
multiple legs. Both the primary and secondary windings rest on one
leg. Thus the current distribution around the core is by no means
uniform, leading to a certain amount of leakage flux. Such
conventional transformer features typically provide leakage flux in
the order of 6%, a frequency response in the ranges between 30 Hz
and 28 kHz. The efficiency of such transformers is on the order of
85% with the voltage regulation being about 1.5-2 megohms. The
size, both of the toroid and in these E-shaped transformers is
bulky and the material is not fully or optimumly utilized. The
winding employs solid round wires and coupling to the core is not
really ideal, leading to local leakage.
As the prior art can ascertain, when such transformers are used as
flyback transformers they can provide relatively high voltages
ranging from 7-28 KV and higher. In any event, the high voltage
regulation is poor. If the high voltage regulation is poor, the
reproduced picture of a TV receiver can suffer deterioration. The
prior art was aware of this, and provided certain solutions
involving using multi-layer winding flyback transformers which were
designed to operate to provide more stable high voltage regulation.
The multi-layer winding flyback transformer has been described in
many U.S. patents. The problems with these transformers relate to
short circuit operation where if a short circuit occurs on a
secondary winding, or if discharge is caused within the picture
tube, the diodes associated with such transformers are subjected to
high reverse voltages which can operate to destroy these
diodes.
The prior art is replete with a number of patents which describe
various flyback transformers. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,086 entitled
"Flyback Transformer Apparatus" issued on Feb. 11, 1975 to Miyoshi,
et al. This describes a flyback transformer where the primary
winding is inductively coupled with the high voltage side winding
portion of the first secondary winding. The transformer provides an
output impedance which is reduced and a focusing voltage which is
relatively regulated.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,928 entitled "Flyback Transformer" issued on
Sep. 9, 1975 to Sawada, et al. This patent describes a flyback
transformer which utilizes a magnetic core with secondary windings
wound around the core and a primary winding. In this transformer
the secondary winding is divided into a plurality of winding units
which are alternately connected with the same number of rectifying
elements such as diodes in series. The structure is such that a
relatively compact device can be accommodated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,263 entitled "Flyback Transformer" issued on
May 20, 1983 to Onoue. This patent describes a flyback transformer
having a plurality of secondary windings wound about a magnetic
core. The secondary windings are divided into a plurality of coil
units and are alternately connected in series with a plurality of
rectifying diodes. The coil units are wound around individual layer
bobbins where the bobbins are assembled in layers and fitted
alternately with the outermost bobbin being mounted with a support
in which a plurality of diodes are fixed. The structure purports to
be relatively compact.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,786 entitled "Flyback Transformer With A Low
Ringing Ratio" issued on Oct. 21, 1980 to Mitani, et al. This
patent describes a flyback transformer having a tertiary winding
for obtaining a secondary power source which is wound in a position
where the coupling with the primary winding is weak and where the
winding interlinks the leakage flux of the secondary winding with
the primary winding. The output of the tertiary winding is
rectified during the horizontal scanning period of a television
receiver. In this manner the wave crest of the ringing is made
smaller regardless of the pulse which is applied to the secondary
winding.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,269 entitled "Flyback Transformer" issued on
May 5, 1981 to Toba. This describes a multilayer flyback
transformer which has five cylindrical bobbins which are
concentrically arranged. A magnetic core is inserted in the first
or innermost bobbin and a primary winding is wound in layers on the
outer periphery of the bobbin. Diodes are connected between the
secondary windings and a capacitor is formed between the cathode of
the diode and the anode of another diode. In this manner the
transformer is capable of providing high voltage operation in a
relatively compact design.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,706 entitled "Flyback Transformer" issued on
Jan. 27, 1986 to Shimizua. This patent describes a flyback
transformer where a tertiary coil is wound on an auxiliary bobbin
which is separately provided. The bobbin is inserted on a low
tension coil bobbin for the primary coil which serves to insulate
the tertiary coil from the primary coil.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,947 entitled "Flyback Transformer Having Coil
Arrangement Capable of Reducing Leakage of Magnetic Hux" issued on
Jun. 16, 1992 to Hishiki. This patent describes a flyback
transformer which uses a magnetic core assembly formed by joining a
pair of first and second U-shaped core halves each having two leg
portions with end surfaces respectively joined in a mutually
abutting configuration. There are gap spacers interposed between
the first and second core parts and a coil is wound about the core
parts. The resulting transformer has an output winding, which is a
secondary, which can be divided into at least two windings to
provide separate flux paths.
As one can ascertain, apart from the above-noted patents there
exists many more patents which involve various transformer
configurations and which attempt to reduce the size of the
transformer while making the transformers more efficient. For
examples of such prior art, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No.
4,103,267 issued on Jul. 25, 1978 to Olschewski entitled "Hybrid
Transformer Device". This patent describes a transformer mounted on
a ceramic substrate having a plurality of planar conductors formed
on a surface of the substrate. The conductors extend radially from
an imaginary point on the substrate. A layer of dielectric material
is formed over the major portions of each of the conductors to form
a ring of dielectric material to which is ferrite toroidal core is
secured. The core is precoated with an insulating material prior to
adhesively being secured to the dielectric ring. A plurality of
wire conductors are wire bonded at each end to the exposed ends of
the metal conductors on a substrate to form a printed circuit
transformer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,342 issued on Jun. 18, 1985 to Joseph Mas and
is entitled "Toroidal Core Electromagnetic Device". This patent
describes an electromagnetic device which can include a transformer
and has a magnetic core and a segmented electrical winding. The
core has an enclosed trunk defining a central opening. At least
three coil sections of the electrical winding encircle the trunk
and are circumferentially spaced about the periphery of the
core.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,603 issued on Feb. 16, 1988 to Blanpain et al.
and is entitled "Process for Producing a Toroidal Winding of Small
Dimensions and Optimum Geometry". This patent describes an process
to produce a small toroid. Windings having turns which are radial
with respect to a cylinder are employed. The cylinder is provided
with slots arranged along the axes of an internal and external
cylinder. Hairpin shaped conductive wires are introduced into these
slots and welded to one another.
As one can also ascertain, there are many other patents which
essentially describe improved magnetic circuits used for small
compact transformers as well as for flyback transformers.
The present invention describes a flexible transformer which
operates without conventional wires and is capable of improved
operation in providing a reduced leakage flux, a higher frequency
response, improved efficiency, improved voltage regulation while
providing a compact and efficient design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A transformer secondary winding comprising a flexible laminated
member, comprising a first planar sheet member having a first
plurality of parallel conductive lines on a surface thereof, a
second planar sheet member having a second plurality of parallel
conductive lines of a surface thereof, a central planar sheet
member fabricated from a magnetizable material interposed between
said first and second planar members and means for connecting ends
of said first and second parallel lines to one another to form a
coiled pattern directed about said central member to enable any
current flowing in said coiled pattern to magnetize said central
planar sheet according to said current flow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is
made to the following description of an exemplary embodiment
thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective plan view of a composite laminar flexible
transformer element according to this invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a top planar member utilized in this
invention;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a bottom planar member utilized in
this invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment showing a
planar configuration which can be employed with this invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an arrangement of the
planar transformer configuration according to this invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view depicting a method of connecting
planar members according to this invention;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view showing an annular or closed ring
configuration of a transformer fabricated according to this
invention;
FIG. 8 is a top view showing a spiral transformer configuration
fabricated according to this invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective plan view of a flexible primary planar
sheet used as an inner cylindrical primary structure;
FIG. 10 is a perspective plan view of a flexible primary planar
sheet used as an outer cylindrical primary structure;
FIG. 11 is a top view depicting the connection between the inner
and outer primary structures;
FIG. 12 is a top plan view of a primary cap connector;
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a transformer with top and
bottom primary cap connectors;
FIG. 14 is a schematic of an alternate transformer
configuration;
FIG. 15 is a schematic of a transformer configuration according to
FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram depicting an equivalent circuit for
the transformer configuration shown in FIG. 7; and
FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram depicting the circuit configuration
utilized for the transformer configuration shown in FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a composite planar member 10
which essentially constitutes the main aspect of a secondary
winding structure used with the present transformer. The composite
transformer winding 10 comprises lamina, thin sheets, or insulator
tapes accommodating conductive parallel line patterns and where a
magnetizable sheet is sandwiched between two conductive line
carrier sheets or tapes. The member 10 consists of three sheets and
is shown in FIG. 1 in a laminated construction. The three sheets
are extremely thin and the entire composite member 10 can be rolled
or otherwise bent and as such is a flexible member. The utilization
of the composite laminated member 10 will enable one to construct
various transformer configurations as those of a closed-ring
configuration or a spiral configuration.
As seen in FIG. 1, a first planar member 11 is fabricated from an
insulating material which, for example, may be a suitable paper
such as a Kapton paper or some other paper or plastic which is
normally used in the integrated circuit field or for with
transformers. The insulating material must be able to accommodate
metal deposition or evaporation. Disposed upon a top surface of the
sheet 11 is a series of conductor elements or conductive lines such
as 20, 21, 22 and so on. There are a plurality of such conductive
lines 20, 21 . . . etc., each of which is parallel to a adjacent
ones. The conductor line pattern is directed across the top surface
of the insulating sheet 11. Each conductor is formed from a
suitable conducting metal such as copper, gold, silver, which is
evaporated on the surface of the insulating sheet 11 by
conventional evaporation techniques using photolithographic
procedures similar to those used in the formation of integrated
circuits. In this manner a conductive metal can be evaporated or
otherwise positioned on the top surface of the Kapton sheet 11 to
form the conductor pattern as shown in FIG. 1. Each conductor may
be at a slight angle with respect to the vertical or may be
relatively vertical. The conductors are spaced apart by a
predetermined fixed distance. The distance between conductors can
be extremely small as less than 2.0 mils. The insulator sheet 11,
as indicated, is relatively thin and may be formed from a paper or
other plastic or insulating material having a thickness of
approximately 1 mil. The width of a conductor is typically about 5
mils or less.
While suitable metal conductors, such as 20 and 21, can be applied
to such substrates by evaporation techniques or by RF sputtering,
they can also be deposited as a paste-like organic, metal glass
mixture which are referred to as inks or pastes and are utilized in
the thick film IC field. In this manner such conductors are applied
as a paste-like organic metal glass mixture to a suitable paper or
flexible plastic substrate. The metals used for thick film
conductors are noble metals such as platinum, palladium, gold,
silver and various combinations and alloys of these metals. To
control adhesion, solderability and chemical stability, the
glass/metal ratio, particle size and shape of the metals and
various components are all important variables. Thus, it is well
known how to impose conductor patterns on a paper or a flexible
plastic substrate to form the planar member 11.
Also shown in FIG. 1 is a planar member 13 which essentially is of
the same thickness and material as member 11 and which includes an
alternate series of parallel conductors or conductive lines, such
as 23, 24 and 25, shown in dashed line in FIG. 1. The surface
configurations of planar member 11 and planar member 13 are shown
respectively in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the conductor elements, such
as 20 and 21 on sheet 11, are connected to an associated conductor
element on the back planar sheet member 13, such as conductor
elements 23 and 24. This can be accomplished in a number of ways.
Shown in FIG. 1 are apertures 30, 33, 32, 34 and 35 and so on.
These apertures are via apertures and enable the top terminal 30,
for example, of conductor 20 to be connected to the top terminal of
conductor 23 on substrate 13 via the holes 30 and 30b as shown. In
this manner one forms an alternating pattern of connected conductor
lines which essentially serve to surround the center member 12. The
connected conductive lines form a coil of a zig-zag pattern
disposed about the center planar magnetizable sheet 12. The center
member 12 is formed from a magnetizable material and essentially is
a magnetic sheet. The center member 12 may consist of a soft iron
sheet bounded on both sides by the insulator sheets 11 and 13. The
via holes as 30, which connect the conductors on the planar sheet
11 to the conductors on planar sheet 13 are not directed through
the soft iron central layer 12. This is particularly shown in FIG.
5 where reference numeral 50 depicts a layer such as layer 13,
reference numeral 52 depicts a layer such as layer 11 with the
layers separated by the magnetizable layer 51. There are conductors
53 and 54 directed through suitable apertures from the layer 50 to
the layer 52 without in any manner touching the layer 51. It is of
course known that other techniques for joining the members can be
implemented as will be explained.
As one can see from FIG. 1, the basic transformer secondary winding
configuration consists of a composite laminar structure which is
flexible, consisting of a first planar sheet member 11 having
parallel conductors or conductive lines on a top surface thereof. A
second planar member 13 has corresponding conductor elements on the
top surface thereof and selected end points of the conductive lines
on member 11 are joined with end points of the conductive lines on
member 13 to form a wireless transformer winding arrangement with
the conductors interlaced, insulated and alternating about the
magnetic material or magnetic central sheet 12. The connected
conductive lines form a zig-zag coiled pattern and operate and
function as "windings" about the "core" as sheet 12. The outer
planar sheet members 11 and 13 are referred to as current sheets
because this is where the current is directed, while the inner
magnetic member 12 is referred to as a magnetic sheet. As one can
ascertain, the structure alternates from the planar member 11 to
the planar member 13 via the interconnected conductive lines, as
20, 23, 21, 24 and so on. In this manner the line structures are
associated with the central magnetizable material sheet 12 and thus
form a coil about the center sheet 12.
While the magnetic planar sheet 12 can be fabricated from a soft
iron which can be flattened by many conventional techniques to form
a sheet of magnetic material, other materials can be utilized as
well. For example, there is a product which is manufactured by
Allied Corporation of Parsippany, N.J. sold under the tradename of
Metglas. This product is an amorphous alloy ribbon which has
magnetic capabilities and a relatively large tensile strength. The
material can be bent or otherwise formed and the amorphous or
non-crystalline atomic structure of the alloys give them unique
electromagnetic properties. The alloy can be employed in pulse
transformers, magnetic amplifiers, power transformers and current
transducers and other devices requiring a square loop high
saturation material. As indicated, such materials are available
from other sources as well and can be utilized to form the magnetic
sheet or central member 12. The sheets 11, 12 and 13 are held in
place due to the connections between the conductive line patterns
on outer sheets 11 and 13. The sheets can be otherwise secured
together.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show planar members 11 and 13 in a top plan view,
showing the parallel conductor line patterns.
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an alternate way of joining
such planar sheet members. As shown in FIG. 4, planar sheet member
40 can constitute the member 11 or 13 of FIG. 1. Essentially member
40 has conductors or conductive parallel lines, as 41 and 43,
directed along the top surface or other surface and which members
terminate in land areas 42 and 44 at the thin edge. These land
areas are then bridged or coupled together by means of contact
members 46 and 47 which are disposed as a top sheet or cap
structure 45. In this manner the cap 45 operates to provide contact
between conductors on sheets as 11 and 13 having the configuration
shown in FIG. 4. This particular technique is shown in more detail
in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a first member 56 and a second member 49
which sandwiches the central magnetic member 57. The sheet members
49 and 56 each have a suitable pattern of parallel conductive lines
on a surface. Reference numeral 48 depicts the bridge formed by the
bridging connector which operates to connect the top ends of
selected conductors. Another bridge as 48b (FIG. 6) would connect
the bottom ends or terminals. Contacts 58 and 59 are brought out
from either end of the conductors as desired. Thus, in the
configuration shown in 4 and 6, the members, as 45, act as a lid
and have bridging contacts to enable the planar members, as 11 and
13, to be connected together by means of caps or bridging contacts
without the use of via holes. It should become apparent to those
skilled in the art that other techniques for connecting the sheets
together can be employed as well.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown one type of transformer
configuration which can be implemented using the secondary winding
structures depicted in FIGS. 1 to 6 above. In the transformer
structure of FIG. 7 there is shown a plurality of secondary
windings, each of which is formed from a planar composite sheet, as
sheet 10 of FIG. 1 and of appropriate length and which, surrounds a
central or center primary cylinder 70. The separate secondary
sheets are positioned about the primary cylinder 70 in concentric
circles. Each of the dark lines as 71, 72 and 73 represent the
magnetic sheets or the planar sheets as 12, while the dashed lines
represent the outer current sheets such as sheets 11 and 13. It is
of course understood that in order to avoid electrical shorts, the
respective sheets can be insulated by covering the exposed surfaces
with paper or other insulators. In a similar manner the sheets can
be arranged, as shown in FIG. 7, and separated by placing a
suitable shellac or other insulating material over the conductive
line pattern.
Thus in the transformer arrangement of FIG. 7 the secondary
windings are planar sheets as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 each
arranged in concentric circles about a primary cylinder 70. Each
separate secondary windings sheet has two terminals as 77 and 78
which are available via suitable leads or wires. The primary
cylinder 70 is comprised of a flexible sheet such as sheet 70 shown
in FIG. 9. The insulator sheet 70 of FIG. 9 is fabricated from a
suitable paper and has deposited on the surface a plurality of
parallel conductive lines as 125, 126, 127 and 129. The conductive
lines are shown as vertically oriented but can be at slight angles
and are parallel to each other. The conductor lines terminate in
top and bottom land areas, as land areas 121 and 123 for conductor
125, and top land area 122 and bottom land area 124 for conductor
126 and so on. Each conductor of the plurality has such land areas.
The flexible primary sheet is bent or flexed into a circular
configuration and placed in the center of a secondary winding
arrangement to form one portion of the primary winding. As shown in
FIG. 7, the conductors 124 and 125, are arranged on the inside of
the concentric cylindrical primary structure 70. The conductive
lines can also be arranged on the outside as well.
A second component of the primary winding consists in an outer
concentric circular planar member 79 which again is fabricated from
an insulator sheet and has deposited on a surface thereof larger or
wider conductive areas as 100 and 101. The number of conductive
lines or areas on the outer primary cylindrical structure is the
same as the number of conductive lines on the inner cylindrical
structure 70. As shown in FIG. 10, the outer primary member 79 has
parallel conductive lines 100, 101 and 102 each having land areas
as 130 and 131 associated with conductor 102, land areas 132 and
133 associated with conductor 101 and so on.
As will be explained, the outer primary cylindrical structure 79 is
connected to the inner primary cylindrical structure 70 by means of
suitable conductors which may be located on cap members. The
conductive line patterns are connected together by means of
conductive paths to form a continuous coiled primary winding which
overlays the secondary winding. Conductors are directed from a
inner primary conductive line as 127 on member 70 to an outer
primary conductive line as conductor 101 on the outer ring 79. This
is shown schematically in FIG. 7 by referring to conductor 140.
Referring to FIG. 11 the inner primary cylinder 70 and the outer
primary cylinder 79 are shown with a secondary configuration shown
in dashed lines positioned concentrically between the primary
cylinders. The arrows in the figure show the direction of flux flow
through the secondary. Current flows in the primary conductors, as
for example in the primary center cylinder 70, into the paper as
shown by the cross at the center. Current flows in the outer
primary conductor, as conductors 100, 102 and 101, out from the
paper. Hence primary current flows into the conductors of the
central conductor 70 in a direction in the paper and out from the
paper in conductors as 100, 101, 102. The conductors are arranged
as follows: Conductor 102 with top terminal 130 is connected to an
inner conductor of cylinder 70 at the top terminal of the inner
conductor. The bottom terminal of the inner conductor is then
connected to a suitable bottom terminal for example of conductor
100 where the top terminal of conductor 100, as terminal 133, is
connected to the top terminal of the next conductor in the line
with the bottom terminal of the next conductor connected to the
bottom terminal of conductor 101 and so on. This, as one will
understand, creates a coil pattern where the wires or connectors,
as 140 and 141 for example, are directed about the secondary
configuration as for example secondary windings 71, 72, 73 of FIG.
7. In this manner, a suitable electric field is induced to enable
current flow in the primary winding to cause in current flow in the
secondary windings. It is of course understood that appropriate
terminals such as terminal 75 associated with the inner cylinder 70
and terminal 86 associated with the outer cylinder 79 provide the
input terminals for the primary winding.
Referring to FIG. 12 there is shown a cap which may be fabricated
from a suitable insulative material such as a ceramic, paper,
cardboard or other material. Formed on the bottom side of the cap,
are a series of conductive land areas which are positioned near the
outer peripheral of the cap, as conductors 152 and 155. Each outer
land area is connected to an inner land or terminal area. Thus,
inner conductive area 153 is connected to outer conductive area 151
by means of the conductive line 152. Each outer conductive area is
connected to an inner conductive area by a radial conductive lines
as 152, 156, 158 and so on. The cap 150 constitutes a connection
cap or a connector which connects the outer or top terminals of
primary cylinder 79 to the outer or top terminals of primary
cylinder 70. In a similar manner, a bottom cap, which is configured
or cap 150, constitutes another conductive pattern which operates
to connect alternate bottom conductors of the inner and outer
primary cylinders to form an alternating or coiled pattern. The cap
members are shown in FIG. 13 where a top cap 150T, and a bottom cap
150B are shown positioned with respect to the inner and outer
primary cylinders 70 and 79. The caps, as indicated, connect the
top land areas of the outer primary cylinder 79 to the appropriate
land areas of the inner primary cylinder 70. Reference numerals 160
and 161, indicate the positions of the secondary winding sheets as
shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8.
In FIG. 8, there is shown a spiral configuration where one
elongated member, as member 10 of FIG. 1, is arranged in a spiral
coiled pattern to form a secondary which is directed around a
primary cylindrical member 80 associated with a primary outer
cylinder 88. The primary has input terminals 83 and 84. The primary
winding is structured exactly as the above-described primary
consisting of primary cylinders 70 and 79 and is interconnected in
the same manner, including caps as shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13,
for example or by wires.
Referring to FIG. 14 there is shown an entirely different
transformer configuration which essentially is implemented from the
flexible conductive planar sheets as described above. As seen in
the top view of FIG. 14, there is shown a primary cylinder 160 and
a primary cylinder 161. Each of the cylinders as 160 and 161 has
the configuration shown in FIG. 9 and essentially each consists of
a planar flexible sheet, as sheet 70 of FIG. 9, having a plurality
of parallel conductive lines, as conductors 125, 126 and 127. Each
of the primary cylinders are surrounded by a suitable secondary
structure, such as the secondary structure shown in FIG. 7 or the
secondary structure shown in FIG. 8. The conductive lines of each
cylinder, are connected together by means of wires or by means of
top and bottom caps to form a coil or a primary winding where
current flows in the directions of the arrows shown. The flux flow
induces secondary currents to flow in the secondary structures 162
and 163. The primary winding has input terminals 170 and 171. Also
shown in dashed lines is a third secondary configuration 165 which
essentially is the secondary configuration, as shown in FIGS. 7 and
8.
FIG. 15 shows the primary winding 180 with output terminals 171 and
170 in a schematic form which primary winding is now surrounded by
secondary windings as 181, 182, 183 and 184. Shown in FIG. 15 are
four secondary windings each of which may have a configuration
shown in FIG. 7 or the configuration shown in FIG. 8. It is seen
that current flowing in the primary winding, which consists of four
cylinders, connected together as described, induces current in the
secondary windings as shown in FIG. 15.
Referring to FIG. 16, there is shown a circuit configuration of the
transformer arrangement shown in FIG. 7. As seen, the transformer
consists of a primary winding having input terminals 75 and 86. The
primary. winding 90 is implemented by means of the central cylinder
70 and the outer cylinder 79 of FIG. 7. There are a plurality of
secondary windings as windings 91, 92 and 93, each of which is
formed from a separate, concentric, lamina sheet such as sheets 71,
72, 73 and so on of FIG. 7. Each of the separate secondary windings
as indicated have two terminals and can be interconnected by means
of diodes or rectifiers, such as 101, shown connecting one terminal
of secondary winding 92 to one terminal of secondary winding
91.
Referring to FIG. 17, there is shown a schematic diagram depicting
a circuit configuration of the transformer arrangement shown in
FIG. 8. As seen, the primary winding 95 has input terminals 83 and
84 and is associated with a large secondary winding 96 having
terminals 81 and 82, which winding 96 consists of the spiral
winding having many turns and therefore is capable of extremely
high voltage step-up ratios.
As one can ascertain from FIGS. 7 and 8, the transformer shown
utilize rolled flexible planar sheets, essentially are rolled up
employing similar techniques used in forming capacitors. Such
transformers are extremely reliable and possess many features which
are not found in conventional transformers. The transformers
exhibit a higher efficiency in the range of 95% or greater and
exhibit extremely good voltage regulation of about 0.97 Mohms.
These transformers have high frequency responses to 100 kHz. The
transformers have extremely good efficiency and a very optimum
usage of transformer materials based on their construction. As one
will understand, a secondary core is fabricated with a number of
concentric and telescoping thin annular rings, as for example shown
in FIG. 7. Each of the rings is capable of accommodating a maximum
number of current carrying conductors, such as 11 and 13 of FIG. 1.
Thus the core material which is evidenced by planar member 12 of
FIG. 1 is fully and most efficiently excited. The result is a much
higher attainable voltage than can be realized with a single prior
art core with one winding.
It is also indicated that the planar sheets are folded in an
annular or concentric ring patterns with an input terminal, as for
example 31, providing one terminal of a secondary winding and the
output terminal 35 providing the second output terminal. As
indicated, these windings can be directly connected together to
form a single secondary winding or can be connected by means of
rectifiers. For a given primary excitation with a single prior art
secondary core and winding, the optimum ratio of the two radii for
the higher secondary voltage is 1.6487. At the same ratio, the
attainable secondary voltage with a secondary core comprised of a
given number of concentric planar sheets, as for example shown in
FIG. 7, is 1.718 times higher. The available secondary voltage from
the improved devices is three or four times higher than that
obtained with conventional transformers.
Improved operation is also due to the fact that the current
excitation is provided via the wireless tapes or planar members
which have evaporated conductors on the surface and which closely
couple to the central magnetic sheet or magnetic member resulting
in practically no local leakage for the transformer. Thus the
transformer, while being extremely efficient, is extremely small
considering the voltage levels operated on.
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